Patch 3.2: Raid lockouts extendable
by Michael Sacco 
Jun 29th 2009 at 10:35PM
Man, what a crazy news day this has been, and the day's not even over yet. Blizzard just rolled out a new PTR build, so we took a quick trip to the Patch 3.2 PTR and discovered a whole new mechanic that Blizzard hasn't mentioned yet. It's yet another change to how raiding works, and it's pretty cool.
We killed Venoxis in Zul'Gurub and, upon being saved to the instance, noticed that we now had the option to extend our raid lockout -- that is, to make it last twice as long or until the next week's lockout would end.
This means that, if your casual guild is a scrappy bunch working on Ulduar, but you can only get to Mimiron each week before the lockout expires, you can extend your current lockout into the following week to get more practice on the bosses you don't get to see as often.
Now -- ostensibly -- once you've done what you need to do with your lockout, you can actually remove the raid lockout extension and use your current week's lockout too. We haven't gotten to try it yet, but it looks like the functionality is there. Pretty cool!
We'll wait to see what Blizzard has to say about it, but this is great news for smaller or more casual guilds who really want to clear instances and don't mind less loot per week.
More shots of the functionality after the jump.
Patch 3.2 will bring about a new 5, 10, and 25 man instance to WoW, and usher in a new 40-man battleground called the Isle of Conquest. WoW.com will have you covered every step of the way, from extensive PTR coverage through the official live release. Check out WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.2 for all the latest!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Qenunie Jun 29th 2009 10:42PM
Yay, more stuff for casuals
....
Nick Jun 29th 2009 10:48PM
Darn!
Was just about to come in here with a "inb4casualqq". SO CLOSE.
Janaa Jun 29th 2009 11:01PM
Which affects you how?
QQ moar. WoW has always been a game for casuals, since day one. If players want a hard-core experience, there have always been alternatives. They truth is, even the hardcore players love the ease-of-access the game presents to new players. Its why they got into WoW in the first place.
It's not as if they forgot to add more heroic raids or anything.
EZ Jun 29th 2009 11:58PM
nice article sacco...until you wrote the word "casual". This will bring all the people like Qenunie here, who pretend they are hardcore so they can make fun of the casuals, even though he is really just a baddie (baddie as in fails at wow, nothing to do with casual play style). It makes casual players and hardcore players look dumb, and it turns the comment section into a steaming pile of Qenunie.
PeeWee Jun 30th 2009 5:48AM
Trust me when i say that this aids hardcores as much as it does casuals.
yunkndatwunk Jun 30th 2009 11:14AM
Actually this is for the hardcore.
Most guilds will wipe for awhile then re-farm the beginning bosses of a raid, only getting 5-7 tries on a boss every week.
The truly hardcore will use this to wipe 20 or more times WITHOUT the benefit of gear upgrades each week since the earlier bosses remain down.
Lab Monkey Jun 30th 2009 12:45PM
This is a great option to have for casual and hardcore alike.
Dealen Jun 29th 2009 10:43PM
I hope they have a way so if I run a pug, my raid will not get extended with that pug.
jbodar Jun 29th 2009 11:49PM
I would hope that this is per individual to decide whether to extend his own lockout.
Almoderate Jun 30th 2009 12:34AM
That's actually a pretty good point. I know that I do PuG a raid here and there, and I'd hate to see myself locked to it a week later and not be available for a guild run.
cptgrudge Jun 30th 2009 1:37AM
@jbodar
Myself and another just tested it on the PTR. It only affects yourself. We'll have to see for sure, but I assume that once you "extend" the raid lockout for yourself, it takes the place of the next lockout you would have had. The Remove Raid Lock button is only there (I assume) until past the time when it would have reset. Past that, I think it becomes an Extend Raid Lock button again.
Magresda Jun 29th 2009 10:45PM
Hmmm... No raid ID's?
Magma Jun 29th 2009 10:54PM
Ballin!
Noscy Jun 29th 2009 11:03PM
I wonder if it locks a raid members, once it is extended?
Noscy Jun 29th 2009 11:03PM
All*
Discolando Jun 29th 2009 11:20PM
Wait, what were you doing in Zul'Gurub to begin with?
Zrob Jun 29th 2009 11:48PM
my guess would be "testing"
Rankin Jun 30th 2009 1:29AM
Another good question is why is ZG listed as a 10 man.
Kadamon Jun 30th 2009 2:18AM
You go get 5 level 60's and try to do ZG.
We'll stand back and laugh.
You'll understand then, why it's a 10man.
Sorro Jun 30th 2009 2:34AM
@ Kad
Yeah, but didn't it use to be a 25-man?